„Vor Guð er borg á bjargi traust“ Um íslenskar þýðingar sálmsins

Abstract

The hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”, is Martin Luther’s most famous hymn. It was probably written in 1528 and very soon became very popular and was early translated into other languages. Originally, it was used only by Protestants but in the last decades of the 20th century it was also introduced in Roman-Catholic hymnbooks. The melody is also by Luther and has been popular as well and is sung to several other hymns both in Iceland and among the neighbouring countries. This article explains the theology of the hymn and explores the history of its translations into Icelandic. The oldest Icelandic translation is from 1555. The translation in Guðbrandur Thorlaksson’s hymnbook from 1589 was used up until the beginning of the 19th century when a new translation, theologically influenced by the Enlightenment, was introduced in 1801. The present translation from 1871 is by Helgi Hálfdánarson. At the same time the pastor and poet Stefán Thorarensen was also working on a translation of the hymn but when he saw Helgi Hálfdánarson’s translation he preferred it to his own which thereby was forgotten. Here Stefán Thorarensen’s translation is printed for the first time.